Wheel



H. J. HORN WHEEL vFiled Deo. 26, 1941 voi INVENTOR. HARRY JHORN @aww-U 7a/Lm mui wm mm v mm wm A 7' TORNEK Patented Aug.l17, 1943 WHEEL Harry J'..Horn' Lansing, Mich., assigner to Motor Wheel" C(i1'pl'n2-ttikon,- Lansing, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application neember 26, 1941,. serial. No., 424,444

' i claims. (ci. 3er-ser This invention relates tor pressed metalzwheels, and' particularly to-s-uch Wheels-z of relatively gireati Width in' proportion to their. diameter; he inverrtlon is especially applicable toT airplane wheels.`

rihe principal object. of the invention is,A toprovide a relativi-:dyr light Weight, rugged. wheel composed of few parts' which canr be easily rabide catedl from sheet metal'.

Another object is` to' provide a Wheel which is easily assembled and disassembled to: permit, mounting and dismounting a pneumatic rlhese objects and others ancillary thereto will more fully appear1 in the following specifi-cation when read inconnection Withth'e accompanying drawing, wherein-f Fig-ure 1 is a fragmentary elevational vie-W of av Wheel embodying theinvention; t V

Figure. Zlis fragmentary cross-sectional vien/f taken. on substantially the line'. 2 2. of Figure L;

Figure 3V isa fragmentary cross-sectional.V View' taken on substantially the line vS- of' Figure 11;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional' View" of amocliileel of the invention.

One form of the invention is embodied in a wheel shown in Figures 1 to The Wheel comprises generally a pair of side members Iii and IY i, a pair of hub members l2 and i3 associated with the respective side members, two spacer members Id and I5 for spacing the side and hub members apart, and a plurality of bolts IS and nuts il for securing the parts of the wheel together. The wheel also includes a pair of reinforcement members 2l and 2o. The wheel is completed by a removable cover 32 and a brake drum 33, the latter being riveted to the side member I I. v

The two side members iB and Il are identical one piece annuli formed from pressed sheet metal. Each side member is formed to provide a tire bead seat IG and a tire retaining flange I9 adjacent its outer perimeter. The flange I9 has a rolled edge. A large opening is formed in the centerof each side member to receive the corresponding hub member I?. or i3. This opening is defined by an inturned cylindrical ilange 2E). intermediate the seat i8 and the flange 20 the side members are provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings for the reception of the bolts i6. The metal around each of these openings is deformed to provide flat, radially extending seats 2l for the heads of the bolts It and the nuts i?. intermediate the seats 2i are additional flattened spots (see Figure 3) having openings therein for the reception of rivets 2S. The axially inner surfaces of the seats E! and 22 are all in the same plane.

The hub members i2 and i3` are identical, annuli; The hub members may be made from pressed meta-l but preferably they are forgings. They aremade to t Within the cylindrica-l'fianges 20. and are provided their axially outer ends with radial anges Z4 designedto abut against the outer surfaces of the respective sidemembers I- and II. Ann-ular rabbets 25-areforlmedY at the axially inner ends of theehuis members to receive the'spacer |.5j. The hub members also are formed toY receive. the outer race 2t of an anti-friction bearing;v The. hubmembers I2 and I3 and their respective side. membersi-- and`V I I are Welded together.V v v The. spacer id comprises acylindrical radially outer portion and the radial reinforcement 2', formedintegrally with one. end thereoi` A ange 28 is formed at the radially 'inner periphery of the reinforcement 21 which seatsA in a rabbetadjacent the inner end of thehub member I3 and is Welded thereto.. The reinforcement 2l is'. juxtaposed to the ilatseats 2 I' and'. 22 enl the. side member I I and isrivetedto the latter bytheri'vets 23. The reinforcement 2l" also is provided with open* ings registering with the bolt receiving openings in the side member I I.

Another radial reinforcement 29-is provided for the hub member I2 and side membe lil. It is separate from the spacer member lli. The reinforcement 29 has axial flanges Sil and Si at its inner and outer perimeters, respectively. ange 3i) seats in a rabbet in the hub me nber i and is Welded to the hub member, While the flange `Si is removably telescoped Within theY spacer ist.

* The reinforcement 29 is riveted to side member I0 by rivets 23 (see Figure 3) The spacer I5 is a cylinder. It nts within the rabbets provided therefor in the hub members i2 and I3 and may be Welded to one or the other of the hub members, but not both.

The bolts I' pass entirely through the wheel. The heads of the bolts i6 abut against the at seats 2i in member II While the nuts Il" abut against the corresponding seats in the member i0. When the nuts il are threaded home against the side member it the parts of the wheel are clamped together. It will be noted that the bolts are located closely adjacent the spacer ifi Whereby the force applied when the nuts are threaded home is principally a compressive force applied to the spacer I4, rather than a force causing undue flexing of the side members.

The Wheel may be easily disassembled so that a tire can be mounted or dismounted by removing the nuts Il, When so disassembled, the

y rigid supports for the hub members.

Wheel comes apart in two units, one including members II, I3 and I4, while the other includes members ID, I2 andf29. If spacer I5 is welded to one of the hub members I2 or I 3, it too becomes a part of one of the units.

The radially inner parts of side members I@ and II, the hub members I2 and I3, and the respective reinforcements 2'! and 29 form annular structures of triangular coniiguration. ThisI construction stiiens the entire wheel and provides Since the spacer I4 is rigidly attached to side membel` II by rivets, and telescopes over the flange 3l of reinforcement 29 which is rigid with the member IG,

the parts are always accurately located radially with respect to each other.

Figure 4 of the drawing illustrates a slightly modified form of the invention. The wheel shown in Figure 4 is nearly identical to that shown in Figures 1 to 3, and the corresponding parts are indicated by the same reference characters primed. The Sole dierence between the two wheels is that both reinforcements 21 and 25' at the ends of the spacer I 4 are integral with the latter. One of the reinforcements is riveted to the corresponding side member, preferably 2l to II', and is Welded to the adjacent hub member. The other reinforcement is held against the hub and-side members only by the bolts vI 6.

It will be evident from the foregoing that this invention provides a wheel which is simple in construction and made of relatively few parts. All of the parts can be formed from sheet metal, yet the completed Wheel is stiff and rugged.' The parts of the Wheels can be, and preferably are,

assembled permanently into tWo units which are readily separable to permit the mounting and dismounting of pneumatic tires.

In all of the different forms of the invention the radially inner spacer serves not only to stiften the wheel axially and radially, but it can be used as a retainer for bearing lubricant.

The scope of the invention is indicated in theV appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pressed metal wheel comprising a. pair of axially spaced apart identical one piece annular side members formed` to provide tire bead seats adjacent their outer perimeters and hub receiving openings at their inner perimeters, a hub member mounted in each of said openings, a single cylindrical spacer member concentric with said openings engaging said side members intermediate said tire bead seats and said openings for spacing said side members apart axially, said spacer member being provided at one end thereof With an integral radial reinforcement member engaging said hub member.

2. A pressed metal Wheel of the character dened in claim y1 wherein said spacer member is provided with integral radial reinforcement members at both ends thereof engaging the respective hub members and permanently secured to one of said hub members.

3. A pressed metal Wheel of the character defined in claim 1 wherein one of said side members is provided with a radial reinforcement member engaging said hub member, said reinforcement member being in telescopic relation with said spacer member at the end opposite the rst mentioned reinforcement member.

4. A pressed metal wheel comprising a pair of axially spaced apart identical one piece annular side members formed to provide tire bead seats adjacent their outer perimeters and hub receiving openings at their inner perimeters, a hub member mounted in each of said openings, a single cylindrical spacer member concentric with said openings engaging said side members intermediate said tire bead seats and said openings for spacing said side members apart axially, and an annular reinforcing member at each end of the spacer member, each reinforcing member engaging the adjacent end of the spacer member and the adjacent hub member.

HARRY J. HORN. 

